Traditional art shows enjoy popularity

Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta

A close observation of traditional art shows and programs on radio and television shows that there have been encouraging developments over the past five years.

Now, according to Sapto Rahardjo of the Ethnic Music Broadcasting Production Project, ethnic music programs broadcast by 83 radio stations in 52 cities across the country this year had a stunning 86.3 million listeners, not bad for a country with some 210 million people.

And then there are the viewers of traditional art performances aired by private television stations and state-owned TVRI.

Some TV programs featuring traditional arts have even achieved high ratings, such as Ketoprak Humor -- a traditional comedy show put on by former members of the Srimulat group, along with celebrities, noted lawyers, emcees or singers as guest stars.

The data shows that these kinds of shows attract more viewers than boring political talk shows. RCTI's Ketoprak Humor consistently earns a seven rating, while the shadow puppet shows on Indosiar get ratings of between five and seven.

From the perspective of regional autonomy, the popularity of traditional art and ethnic programs on TV and radio is encouraging, in the sense that it opens opportunities for each ethnic group to learn about and understand the culture and traditions of others.

Indonesia is rich in culture and tradition, but as many in the art world have realized, many ethnic groups have a poor understanding of each other's culture and traditions.

Still in the context of regional autonomy, Fred Wibowo, a broadcaster from Yogyakarta, believes that apart from natural wealth, each ethnic group's culture, customs, traditions, performing arts, legends and folklore are assets that will inspire countless programs on radio and TV.

And observant radio and television programmers are now moving in that direction.

Fred, for instance, is now in the process of preparing a series titled 100 Indonesian Folk Stories. The shooting of one story, Legend of Surakarta Sultanate, is now under away in Surakarta, he said.

"This is folklore so it does not require factual evidence. However, we have done library study for this purpose," said Fred.

He stopped short of saying which television station would air the series. He said the program would be in Indonesian with Surakarta's Javanese dialect, because the cast consisted entirely of local actors. The series will later be reproduced in CD format, he said.

Meanwhile, Jabatin Bangun, an ethnomusicologist at the Jakarta Arts Institute and a veteran producer of ethnic music broadcasts, expressed regret that the public's greater appreciation for traditional art was not accompanied by an adequate number of experts in the field.

It is true, he said, that in Medan, Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta there are quite a few ethnomusicologists, performing art experts and other creative types capable of turning traditional art into interesting entertainment programs. In many other regions, however, there is a scarcity of these people.

The Ethnic Music Broadcasting Production Project has held a series of training programs for radio broadcasters and ethnomusicologists, but the training has not proven to be the answer for all the challenges in this field. Most of the traditional music broadcasting networks have yet to make use of the training or to work on new programs as expected.

However, Jabatin Bangun and his team, comprising Fred Wibowo, Endo Suanda and Sapto Rahardjo, are now organizing a competition on the production of a half-finished program package for the radio. Each program should be 50 to 70 minutes in duration. More information about the competition may be obtained from Ethnic Music Broadcasting at (0274) 511058.